Touching Lives: From police officer to pastor, Ruffatto serves

BOB WOJCIESZAK | CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL | ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rev. Frank C. Ruffatto stands Oct. 15 in his church in Charleston, W.Va. Ruffatto is a former police officer and homicide detective who became a pastor as a second career. He is the new pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church.

By CHARLOTTE FERRELL SMITHCharleston Daily Mail

Published: Friday, November 16, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 3:14 p.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Rev. Frank Ruffatto comes to his new job as pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church with an unusual resumé.

He is a former police officer and homicide detective. But understanding human nature plays a role in police work as well as ministry, said Ruffatto, who has shared his faith in both capacities.

“There is nothing like sharing the Gospel and seeing lives changed,” he said.

Ruffatto, 47, grew up in Maryland on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where his father was a police officer.

“After seeing what my father went through, I didn’t want any part of it,” he said.

He was the youngest of three children born to John and Donna Ruffatto, who now live in North Carolina. His brother, Steven, is a retired police officer and now a professor of criminal justice in Pennsylvania. His sister, Toni Montgomery, is a former police officer and now a married mother of three living in North Carolina.

After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Frank Ruffatto returned home to the D.C. area where he hung out with police officers, “caught the bug and went to the academy.”

He worked for the Prince George’s County (Md.) Police Department as a detective in various units, including homicide, behavioral sciences,and child and vulnerable adult abuse. He often shared his faith to encourage others, including fellow officers.

In instances when he believed justice was not served, he took comfort in knowing God was the ultimate judge.

He recalls hugging a mother whose son had been murdered and the killer set free.

“My call was to bring justice as humanly possible,” said Ruffatto, who says he understands God’s role in justice and mercy.

He continued to serve as a police officer while working on an undergraduate degree in liberal arts.

“I was working in the child abuse unit, and my family was very active in the church,” he said. “I dealt with social workers on lots of sex abuse cases. Some social workers said religion was not their thing. I wore my faith on my sleeve. For a while, I considered Christian counseling for kids.”

He studied behavioral science and theology at Concordia College in Bronxville, N.Y., and eventually told his wife, Terri Lynn, that he was considering a call to the ministry.

“She said, ‘It’s about time,’” Ruffatto said.

“I had been struggling with it for two years. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t thinking too highly of myself.”

He said he had a similar feeling before becoming a police officer because that is also a calling.

In 2009, he graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis with a master’s of divinity degree.

His first appointment was Point of Grace Lutheran Church in Cornelius, N.C. From there he came to Redeemer Lutheran, where he officially was installed as pastor in October.

Ruffatto also serves as executive director of the nonprofit Peace Officer Ministries Inc., and has traveled extensively as a speaker as well as a chaplain for first responders during times of crisis.

His wife is a coordinator for Peace Officer Ministries. She has previously been a home schoolteacher, administrator and home school adviser.

In the midst of deciding whether to leave North Carolina to come to West Virginia, Ruffatto got a telephone call from a longtime Charleston police officer asking if there was a Peace Officer Ministries group in this area. Plans are in the works to get one started.

He also is involved in Concerns of Police Survivors Inc., helping families suffering in the wake of the loss of an officer in the line of duty.

Ruffatto has helped develop the curriculum provided in partnership with Concordia Seminary for the annual course “Christian Law Enforcement Chaplaincy, Theology and Practice.” He has served as a guest instructor at the Prince George’s County Police Department for basic investigator school as well as the department’s new recruit academy.

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